Creating, Managing, Merging and Closing Schools & Departments

This interface will allow you to create all of your schools and departments. Both are created identically and will function mostly the same within applications.

The number of schools created needs to match the number of licenses purchased by the district.

You can create as many departments as you like. Departments will not count towards campus licenses. Departments are perfect for groups like Special Ed, Technology, Maintenance, etc. These will not cost additional funds. Members of departments will not be able to use the lesson planner within Forethought; however, they can still be curriculum managers.

Note: If a district has purchased 5 licenses and then creates 6 schools, the system will only allow you to select up to 5 checks for each individual application. If you check the 6th, it will go back and uncheck a license from a previously selected school. You either need to change the 6th to a department or purchase an additional license.

To begin creating campuses, select Manage Schools in the left pane and select Create a New School in the bottom left. You can then use the wizard at the right to enter the campus name. Remember, this name will show up on all campus-related reports.

Note: The campus name is also the exact name you will have to use in your user import file. Simply finish typing the name and click Next and then Finish. This campus name will also need to match the campus name being exported from your Student Information System if you are using Aware.

You will then see that campus in the list and will be prompted to change its properties on the General tab.

Select the School Type to be either a School or Department.

Hours of Operation impact when rooms and assets can be reserved during school hours and outside of school hours in Facilities&Events. Click Save at the top to finalize all settings. Continue this process until all campuses are created.

If you are using Aware, you will need to fill in the Local ID Number, State ID Number, and College Board ID Number fields. Make sure the Local and State ID Number fields match those corresponding numbers in your Student Information System.

For Schools only, the Licenses tab shows all purchased applications. When you are ready to turn on the application(s) for users, simply check the box and click Save.

Repeat for additional schools. You do not need to turn on licenses for Departments because they don’t require licenses.

Merging and Closing Schools and Departments

During the summer months, many districts merge or close schools. If your district closes a school, DO NOT DELETE that school from system management since deleting a school will impact campus-level Where They Were (WTW) and Where They Are (WTA) data in Aware. Instead, remove all licenses from that school, move all users from that school to another school and rename the school by adding a "z" or "Closed" to the beginning of the school name so it is obvious that the school is no longer open.

When merging schools, consider which State ID number will remain in use.

For the school with the State ID that will no longer be used, remove all licenses from that school and add a z or Closed to the school name to designate that the school is closed.

Example: Rename the school to zHappy Elementary School if the school name currently appears as Happy Elementary School in System Management.

Note: Historic data from the closed school will now be associated with zHappy Elementary School.

For the school with the State ID you are keeping and using, rename the school in System Management to reflect the new name of the school.

Example: Rename the merged school to Happy Intermediate School in System Management if that is the new name being used by the district for the two combined schools.

Note: Historic data from the school with the State ID you keep will now be associated with Happy IntermediateSchool.